 |
| GOOD MORNING SUNSHINES!!! The sun was just rising as we got on the road Wednesday morn, headed to Newgrange and then Dublin |
 |
| This things are GODLY. Think Twix but better!! |
 |
| There's a theme in my pictures of SUNSHINE, especially this weekend when we had so much of it. I take advantage of my blessings when I find them :) |
 |
| What do we do on the bus? We get educated, that's what. Kyle and Fia, reading the Irish Times |
 |
| Colleen, Calla, Bailey, Ryan, and Kyle, in various poses of awareness of the picture taker, on the bridge at Newgrange |
 |
| Calla, Colleen, and Amber ran over to these adorable benches and I took the picture while still walking, then ran to catch up with me. We're pro at posing for pictures now :) |
 |
| Newgrange, a very old (it was 800 years old before the pyramids were made) passage tomb, severely restored and not yet fully excavated |
 |
| Brittnie, Taylor, and Katie M, getting excited to go into the tomb |
 |
| Detail of the white wall on the outside of Newgrange: the stones were put back on the side of the tomb when it was discovered, and the black rocks were added to 'even out' the effect by archaeologists. I think it looks tacky, and our tour guide described it as 'very '70s'. |
 |
| Again, the black rock has been added in. I don't like the look of it, but that's just me being picky. |
 | |
| The top opening is a roof box to let in exactly 17 minutes of light during the winter solstice -- the bottom bit is the people entrance. Needless to say it was a little tight. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, sadly (a common theme this weekend) but it was super cool. They even simulated the solstice for us! |
 |
| You can still see some carvings on the outside stones -- so cool. |
 |
| They're quite serious about this rule -- they stumbled onto the first entrance on accident, but there may be other entrances on different sides of the tomb. They would excavate more, but it might damage the structure, and that would be sad :( so, another one of life's grand mysteries!! |
 |
| Really elaborate carvings. No one knows the true purpose of Newgrange -- all burial materials found have been on the floor, not in the four burial dishes on the inside, and no one knows why this tomb was built. I believe the theory about it being a place of worship, because of the connection to the new year. It was very cool to be in the presence of something so old. |
 |
| Owen described these sheep as 'wussies' because they're not like Mayo sheep -- they have green flat pastures, instead of the steep hills in Louisburgh and Westport. I didn't know sheep could be wusses, but I trust Owen... |
 |
| Taylor's battle wound, from getting hit in the face with a camera... |
 |
| Amber and I, perplexed that the bus back to the visitor center was taking so long. |
 |
| No one else understood why the sign said 'Q here', and because I giggled at it, I got to explain that it's a shorthand joke for 'queue here', or 'form the line here'. I got lots of blank looks about it, but I still thought it was funny. |
 |
| DUBLIN |
 |
| The Millennium Bridge in the port area |
 |
| My bed is the top bunk -- yay hostels!! That ceiling was very low, FYI |
 |
| Many of us were a little reluctant to be staying in a hostel, Brittine especially, but it was fine :) |
-S
No comments:
Post a Comment